900 Push Ups in 30 days

September 1st has always given me that sinking feeling in my stomach that the back to school / back to work craziness is about to begin. Earlier mornings, later nights, very little downtime and even less checked off my self-care list has been what I experienced in the past 7 years after becoming a mom. It’s beautiful chaos, being a mom and watching the precious fleeting moments that I try to be present for. By present I mean that I am in the moment and not on my phone or thinking about what I have to get done and those become the moments I live for. I am not an expert in being present, I struggle with it but I’m conscious of how important it is to remind myself to pay attention to the moment. With the deadlines that loom in the fall I catch myself with less and less tuned in moments. When I’m more anxious, I end up getting stuck in patterned thinking and thinking leads you away from the moments. Less moments with my kids make me more anxious. The less I get done, the less I end up getting done because I stress out about not getting it done! Brutal cycle and I decided that I am so done with feeling this useless negative feeling. So, this fall I decided to add something to my list that was small enough to commit to, but big enough that it would make a difference in the way I feel.

Since becoming a mom, I haven’t been able to get to a gym or class as frequently as I want so I decided to challenge myself to something I can do in 3 minutes a day wherever I was; 30 push ups per day for 30 days in September. This worked out to 10 before breakfast, 10 before lunch and 10 before dinner. The end of the month would total 900!

I knew that it was a small goal that I could actually execute and one that would contribute to me feeling physically and mentally better, but I didn’t know how good I would feel!

I felt more productive. By actually completing this small goal everyday I felt like I was making movement in my life. Sometimes with the grind of day to day chores I feel like I never truly get anything done. This little goal everyday helped me to feel more in control of my life.

My core became so much stronger. After having the boys, my core has always been the weakest part of my body. Although I know pushups help to strengthen the core, I had no idea how much I’d feel it in my abs daily! I noticed more definition in my upper body too.

I watched my kids become interested too. It became a normal part of our day – and as they watched me get down on the floor to do my set of 10 they wanted to be involved. Both of my boys joined in when they felt like it and at the end of the month my little one started telling me to do my push ups so he could count. Making physical activity a normal part of their life is super important to me.

It created a wave of others wanting to do it too! That was so amazing to watch. It was so inspiring that it motivated me to keep on going into October. I am now on day 45 of #fallandpushup30!